A little while ago, when it was time to empty the dog, I took her on our usual route (we have to follow the same path; she will NOT relax her sphincter when there’s unfamiliar ground to explore), which begins in our alley. When we reach the end of the alley, I hear what sounds like a puppy whining. By the time I triangulate the origin of this sound–open second floor window, facing the alley–it has becomne that of woman desperately screaming for help. Using the actual words “HELP!” and “HELP ME!” This was real, horror movie screaming, not yelling or fighting. It ended pretty quickly, in sobs and whimpers.
I called 911. Squad car pulls up, goes INTO the building without knocking, come out about 15 minutes later. I’m still there, with my phone ready as a witness (the cop is white; the family is black; this is Chicago) when the cop comes out alone. I ask him if everything’s OK. “Oh yeah, nothing to worry about. Just kids playing.”
I tried to describe what I’d heard as accurately as possible–on the 911 call I just said “screaming for help”–and the cop shrugs: “It is what it is. Always call!”–thumbs up!
Well, good job, you! I hope everything really did turn out okay…
I probably should’ve made myself clearer. This is not a story about me being made a fool of by the police, after calling in an unnecessary 911 call. When I said I heard a woman screaming for help, that’s exactly what I heard; not what I later found out I just thought I heard. I have 100% absolute certainty that what I heard was a woman screaming for help.
The (badly implied) point of the OP was that now we have a situation where kids are taking the heat for the screams of their mother while they witnessed her being hurt by, I don’t know, whoever. We have a traumatic, dangerous situation, and a cop who was only too willing to allow the wool to be pulled over his eyes. And these kids are also learning to lie to the cops, even when they witness violence against someone they love, and that whoever told them to lie has absolutely power over them and their reality.
I guess all I can do is keep my ears open when I round that corner, and make sure I have my phone on me.
One way to look at it is that the kids and probably the woman calculated that it was not safe to tell the truth on this occasion. You did the right thing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will have the best outcome. There may not have been much the officer could do, either, depending on what he found and what was said to him.
DV is complicated in terms of how to help. One thing the victims tend to know is when it’s too dangerous to do something. It stinks that that is happening to your neighbors.
Years ago, me and my roommate went out drinking. Came home hammered. I passed the hell out on the couch while she proceeded to puke her guts out in the bathroom. She apparently was so bad that she was moaning and sobbing and begging for help. The bathroom window was open so our neighbors heard and called 911 thinking I was torturing her or something. Next thing I know, the police kick In the door and I’m being handcuffed in my underwear out in the hallway by a very cute female cop. It was…embarrassing, yes…but also oddly arousing.